RUI: Collaborative Research: Signals of genetic quality and mate choice

University Of Texas At Arlington, Arlington TX

Investigators

Abstract

This study examines whether seasonal changes in physiology are related to reproductive fitness in a non-human primate system, advancing comparative knowledge about the evolution of physiology and sociality. The project provides mentored research and field-based experiences and unique training opportunities for students, who have the opportunity to collect and analyze field data and assist in the dissemination of the project findings. The project also supports conservation activities at the local level, including sharing of research findings and educational outreach. This work provides new insight into natural selection by examining the relationships among signals of mate quality, a measurement of genetic quality, and mate choice in a wild nonhuman primate. The research team integrates behavioral data collected in the field and molecular methods used in the laboratory to examine the reproductive consequences of individual variation in seasonal male adipose increase, and tests whether this variation is related to variation in Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) genes. Specifically, this project determines parent-offspring relationships and uses behavioral and genetic data to assess whether male adipose variation is a product of female choice, and thus an honest indicator of one marker of genetic quality, or a product of male-male competition and therefore decoupled from male MHC diversity. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.